Arrow of the Void
by DarkCloud780
Summary: Link, a hero born to the underground, revived Hyrule, is invited to attend the royal festival by Princess Zelda herself. However, shortly upon arrival, Link learns of an ancient evil that has returned to snuff out the light of the land and destroy what the gods had preserved. Now he is the only one who is able to destroy it, but he needs the help of an ancient weapon.
1. Chapter 1

The Legend of Zelda: The Arrow of the Void

**Disclaimer: I own nothing affiliated with Zelda. All rights are reserved by Nintendo.**

Prologue

Legends have it that all was buried under the waters as Ganon fell to Link's hand. Aided by Zelda, Link was able to imprison the Master Sword within the head of his evil foe. As Link retreated from the hulking mass of evil, he watched as the Master Sword imprisoned Ganon in stone. This was to be the last time that Ganon was ever seen. The Triforce imprisoned Ganon forever under the water, along with everything that was Hyrule, even the king himself. However, Link and Zelda returned to the surface of the water to found a new Hyrule on a distant land and to live there forevermore.

However, this tale is not about this Link. It is instead about another hero, born under the waters, in the land of Hyrule. For you see, not all of the kingdom of Hyrule was flooded as the king had wanted. A great magic held the power of the flood back from what once was the forest of the Kokiri, Though the Gods were in the mind to oppress this power permanently, they saw that it was not of evil, but of good, the same shining force that had called upon their power. Having mercy, they let the flood stop on the barrier edge of the forest and breathed an infinite supply of air into the bubble that had been formed there. Then they hid it, that neitherhook nor anchor could ever sink so far into the sea as to pierce the bubble. Their work done, they left the seas, watching now over the world as it was again.

In time, the source of the magic's fruits came to bear. Living beings began to eke out an existence in the forest. There were the races of Hyrule in all manner and abundance, all living together in perfect peace and harmony within the small bubble. The gods, seeing this expansion, opened up dwellings underneath the ground that shone with the sunlight above, providing these people with the light to see, live, and expand under the ground. However, as is the case with all manner of living creature, corruption started to form. At first, it was subtle comments about the other races that existed. Then, as they spread through the flooded ground, becoming more and more diverse, racial differences turned from comments to snide remarks, to derogatory slang, to violence. A new kingdom under the ground began to branch out as the races vied to separate, as the gods had intended for them. As they divided outwards under the ground, the gods closed the forest and sealed it with water, ending the travels about the ground for the people. These people, a secret society under the ground, had dug so far that the above ground was no longer thought of anymore.

Soon, a new kingdom had begun to thrive, similar to Hyrule. Plants and animals thrived in this underground kingdom; ponds were formed as water filtered through the ground to them, becoming clean by the blessings of the gods. No one so far had questioned the origin behind the waters flowing down into the ground, only knowing that they were a divine blessing from the gods that had allowed them to live in this fashion.

Religions began to split, as was natural. The Gorons believed in the Goddess Din, relying on her for their source of strength and power. Zora worshipped Nayru, seeking her guidance and wisdom in their underground waterways that spread all through the underground terrain. Kokiri believed in Farore, the goddess of courage, to supply their needs within their subterranean forests. The Sub-Terrans, a mix of Hylian, Gerudo, Ordonians, and other races that were all alike, all believed in the Goddess rather than having it split. The Triforce, they believed, were simply parts of her that she split to keep safe. Din was her strength, represented by her sword. Nayru was her wisdom and defense, represented by a shield. Farore was her courage and truth, represented by her armor of winged boots, golden scales, and a bright winged helm.

Soon, however, intelligent people began to question what the world above might be like. For eons now this place had existed, even past the existence of the new Hyrule above the water. They wanted to know what the world above was like. They figured that the world above was all water of an unfiltered variety, filled with sediment and salt and plagued by creatures of might and power. Their suspiciouns proved true as they sent expeditions in metal bubbles into the water above. The expedition returned with samples of the water and sightings, through pictograph, of the creatures. So foul and numerous they were, and they tried to eat the metal sphere, and they were nearly swallowed whole by one enormous creature, like a whale that the tales of old talked about.

Our tale starts with a boy who was born a hundred years after the discovery of the infinite expanse of water. His favorite color was green, his favorite pastime was sword play, his name…

Chapter One: An unexpected invitation.

"Link~!" a high pitched, little boy's voice called out. A young boy of about four years ran across the soft grass, following his brother as he was leaving the yard. "Link, where are you going?" he asked, looking at his brother with a smile across his face. "Remember, if you leave the house, I'm supposed to tell mom and she'll get you in trouble!"

The tall young man looked down at the boy, a gentle smile across his face. "Oh, my brother, you know that mom can't get me in trouble for the same reasons anymore. In fact, mom asked me to go and get us something from the shop in town here in Liandra," the tall man, clothed in a green shirt and brown slacks, told his little brother, kneeling down to be face to face with him.

The little boy frowned at his brother's response. "But Link, you pwomised!" he said, his voice elongating the vowels, knowing that his brother didn't like it when he whined and might listen to him if he made himself sound like he was whining.

Link sighed and shook his head. "Listen, Owen, I know what I promised to do. But that was until Mom was well enough to take care of you. She is now and she told me to go and get us some fresh fruits and vegetables from the market, as well as some more of the meat that was harvested. You want to eat dinner, don't you?" he asked with a bit of a smile.

"But then that's what the neighbors are there for!" he said, angry that his brother seemed determined to leave. Link chuckled and patted his head.

"Don't worry about it, Owen. I will be back in time to help around the house here, don't you worry!" said Link before standing and hopping the fence over the yard, sliding down the hill in his leather boots down to the road below his house. The house was built on a rather steep hill; a path leading down was the normal route one would take to get down. The house was actually built on the edge of the hill while the yard covered most of the top of it. Most of the yard was simply grass and nothing more, while a particular section was there for a small garden, though it was now dead and bare. The house itself was made of thick, strong oak wood, logs making up the outside of the large house and sealed by magic to prevent the wood from rotting. Windows that were currently closed were cut in round holes and covered in one way glass, allowing the denizens of the house to see outside but not allowing peepers, as Link's mother called them.

The town that his house was a part of was a rather large subsection of the city of Triant. The town was called Liandra and it was a small town consisting of roughly thirty houses and ten different stores. Visitors often came to the town to buy and purchase the handmade wares of each store, all hosted for reasonable and competing prices with the rest of the city. There was a shop that gained vegetables and meat from the various farms around the village, preparing them with magic and storing many of them fresh as can be. They had a great many silos and storehouses for grain, vegetables, fruits, meats, even instant-prep meals for men who needed to attend a university or school in the city for an education. That was where Link was headed now.

In addition were a weapons shop and an armor shop, both sitting right beside the other. The two owners were best of friends, their houses right across the way from the other, their families knowing the others well. Both were experts in their craft, yet had limited access to materials from the main city. Nevertheless, they worked with what they had and produced high quality weapons and armor with the materials they were given. Then there was a tailor, a carpenter, a local beer hall, a dance hall, a weapons trainer, a library filled with books, and a small school where there was but three teachers who all taught the children of the town.

Link walked into the town and into the shop, finding it more crowded with strangers than usual. "Excuse me, pardon me," he said as he came through the doors, pushing past a group of people that were all in line to purchase their produce and meat. The young man took a brown leather bag and began carefully going over the various fruits and vegetables, knowing what to look for to find the best. His mother would only settle for the best that he could find, after all. He then went to the meats and grabbed some of the best quality cuts, glad that people had looked over them during their shopping.

Soon he was in line just the same as the rest. Link looked at the line and counted how many. "Twenty? Why are there so many people here all of a sudden?" he asked, unintentionally voicing his question out loud. The person in front of him, a tall man with darker red hair and brown skin, said, "They're here preparing for the festival, of course."

Link looked at the man and furrowed his eyebrows, his lips poised as if to say "what?". Before he could voice anything, the darker skinned man said, "You don't know, do you? The princess of our kingdom is coming of age, so many people are stocking up for the partying that is going to go on at their houses, even after the partying is done at the main city."

For a moment there was silence between the two before Link asked him, "The princess is coming of age today?" he was actually rather startled, because today had significance as well.

The man chuckled a bit and asked, "You didn't know that? IT's common knowledge in most of the kingdom! Oh…but then this is quite the backwater town, I forgot. How silly of me, of course you wouldn't know."

Link's lips turned downwards, his heart catching in his chest. "Excuse me? Backwater?" he asked the man, looking up towards the taller man. "What is that supposed to mean?"

The darker toned man turned to him and asked, "You find the term offensive? Good, you're meant to. After all, a simpleton like you would never know what actually goes on in the world, what scientific progress has been made, what relations are actually occurring between the races. I bet you haven't even progressed into the steam age yet. Though the presence of magic use here is rather impressive, many seem to have forgotten that it even exists."

Link felt harsh words wanting to be let out towards this darker skinned man. He briefly clenched his fist at this man's ignorance before relaxing. He hated being called an idiot in a sense, though he knew that this man was probably from some pompous background. He had to acknowledge that and move on. However, the man taunted him further by asking, "What, nothing to reply with, no retort for me? I was expecting more out of you, coward."

Again, Link felt the urge to let loose words of anger at this man for now addressing him more directly. He looked at the man and rolled his eyes. This time, it was not Link's fist that flew, but that man who was challenging Link directly. "You find me funny, do you?" he asked, the line breaking up as Link recoiled from the blow that he took directly to his gut. Link straightened himself out and said nothing in response.

The shopkeeper said all that Link needed. "You, man with the red hair, if you're going to be starting some fights around here, I suggest you leave. We don't take kindly to people like you!"

Link briefly looked at the attire and noticed that he had a black shirt along with dark brown leather leggings. He stepped out of the line that he was a part of and stepped towards the shopkeeper. "Oh, is that how this is going to be? I can't punch someone for being a coward, meaning you endorse in the fact that you'd rather be hit then hit back? Is that how you stupid backwater societies work?!"

"I don't know where you come from," the older man said, "But you're not welcome here if you come here to start a fight with the denizens of this town. You've been nothing but trouble since you walked into this town, pestering me and the others about how dull this place seemed compared to what town you've grown up in. Yes, most of us have heard the news of what is going on, Link just did not quite remember what day it was is all. You don't have to insult us either just because we are out of the way."

"Ha! You think that you're so clever and bright, negotiating your way out of a fight! What, are you scared to have a fight, perhaps losing a fight, having broken bones, bruises, cuts?" the man asked, his tone getting deeper and louder the more he went on. Link had just about enough of his attitude. "You want a fight, then I'll fight. Let's take it outside, where we aren't going to be disrupting the normal flow of traffic here."

The man with his red hair turned, his lips parted and his teeth gritted, gnashing against the other, his brows furrowed as he looked up at Link from a bowed head. "You think you're going to get away with first insulting me and now asking me to choose a different location to fight? In my hometown, when a fight starts, we finish it where it was started! I hit you first, you were supposed to then punch back and we were going to brawl! Instead, you chicken out and then tell me that if we're going to fight, we have to take it elsewhere?! You've got some guts talking to a descendant of the Gerudo, making such demands of him!"

Link shook his head, now realizing where he was from. "I don't care about how it works where YOU come from! This is our town, our rules. If you want to be here, you abide by the rules. If you aren't going to abide by the rules, then we aren't going to. You want a straight one-on-one fistfight? Then we're going to take it out to the fields," said Link, keeping his tone calm as compared to this man's anger. His expression remained neutral as he looked at the glowering, menacing man.

There was a long moment of silence passing between them before the man stood up and said, "Fine, we'll meet out there. But we are not just fighting with fists, particularly not after the way that you insulted and mocked me. No, we're going to use swords…a duel to the death!"

This caused a mighty uproar in the small shop. The clamoring rose to high levels as the citizens that were there all began talking about the outrageousness of the demand. Link shook his head and said, "I refuse to take part in a duel to the death! I will satisfy your need for a fight but not to the extent of murder!"

"If you want to keep your honor as a man, you have no choice!" the man proclaimed, pointing his index finger straight at Link. His lips had twisted into a sadistic grin. "You haven't got a choice, Link! You've put yourself in place for a death match, and you will lose. I've been waiting for someone to fight, to see if this town is even worth mentioning!"

Two guards stepped into the mess, pushing through past the crowds, armed with their swords. They held their swords up and one declared, "You are under arrest for disturbing the peace in this town!" They seized the man, who could do nothing in return except glower at Link. "You lucky coward, you've gotten away with it this time without losing your honor and dignity, perhaps…but the next time we meet, if you do not accept my challenge, I shall make it known just how cowardly you are!" he was hauled off, the clamoring still ongoing. Link was left to contemplate this dumbfounding turn of events.

Even as the rest of the day passed uneventfully for Link, he could not get his mind off of that man that had tried to engage with him in a duel to the death. There was something that Link felt towards him, a stronger dislike than he was used to feeling, even for those without tact or morals. He finally came back home to his house and stepped inside. The interior warmth greeted him, banishing the cold outside as night descended outside. The interior of the house was nice and large, it felt like home. The first hall had tiled floors with wood planked walls and roof. A chandelier hung just above his head, lit with magic candles that never went out unless needed. The tiled floor had a blue and green greeting rug. Link took his shoes off before stepping onto it and calling out, "I'm home! Sorry that I took so long!"

His mother poked her head out from one of the rooms and a smile came to her face. "There you are! I was wondering when you would be back, dear!" she walked out, dressed in a dark blue shirt with a long, brown skirt that hung down to her feet. She wore her blonde hair back in a ponytail that fell down to the middle of her back. She was currently wearing an apron, a sign that she was cooking something delicious. "What happened? You seemed to have been gone for a while and I heard that there was a commotion downtown!"

She gave him a worried embrace, Link returning it before moving back and saying, "I'm okay, mom. Just someone came here that was being a jerk, challenging me to a fight. The guards arrested him, and he's in prison now."

His mother's face was still lined with concern. "You're okay, right? You aren't hurt or anything from what that man started?"

Link nodded his head up and down several times and said, "I'll be fine. I'm just tired from the rest of the day afterwards, what with all the commotion and gossiping now going around about him."

His mother nodded in understanding and gave him a peck kiss on the cheek. "Well, at least you're alright. Come on in, sweetheart, let's get you and Owen some food." Link followed her into the dining hall, where everything was already laid out. Owen gave a toothy smile to Link, showing gaps where loose teeth had been worked loose. "Hi~!" he said in a loud voice as Link entered the room, set the bag down, and took his seat. He looked at his brother with a bright smile.

"You behaving yourself, Owen?" asked Link, looking at his young brother who nodded enthusiastically before going on about what a wild day he had, losing his top left incisor tooth, playing in the mud and getting his mother mad at him, and all of the other fun events that he had. Owen giggled the whole way through, bringing a gentle smile to Link's face as he listened to his brother's interesting stories. He didn't say a thing about his adventures today. Those were things better left untouched upon in front of his little brother.

Dinner was soon served, hot fresh noodles slathered in tomato paste, with herbs and spices mixed in to give it a zesty taste. Balls of meat were served on top and the meal was steaming as it arrived in front of him. Owen's eyes lit up as he looked at the meal and Link just smiled. "It looks as good as ever, mom," he said as she sat down. They said prayers to the goddess, blessing their meal before she served it out. Most of it was split between herself and Link while Owen got a meal size that worked for him, a smaller amount but one that would fill him. Link dug in, feeling the need to eat something after such a long day.

The trio ate in relative peace and quiet, mostly talking about the affairs of the day. Soon, however, Link felt that he needed to bring this up. "So, did you know that the princess comes of age today, the same day that I have been chosen to come of age?" he asked.

For a moment, he saw his mother raise her eyes up as she thought about it. "Oh, yeah, I do remember that. Huh, interesting, I guess I never drew the connection about it happening today on the same day that you do. Oh, and she's coming to this town to visit us. This is where her descendants come from, after all."

Link nearly dropped his fork and stared in awe. "The princess is visiting?!" he asked. "That's…that's insane! I've never heard of any form of royalty ever wanting to visit this town! This is such a big honor!"

"Yes, and she's here to meet someone. She has not disclosed who. Who knows, you might be lucky enough to see her face to face!" his mother said to him. Link was shaking his head negatively to that remark, chuckling.

Link said, "Mom, you and I both know that I would never be that lucky! I'm the apprentice of the carpenter, for goodness sake, there's nothing more to me than that!" His mother waved her finger to him and said, "Now, now, Link, you and I both know that you are handsome, tall, and charming. She would probably want to meet you more than anyone else."

Link shrugged and then continued eating, wondering just about that. "When does she come?" he asked. He wanted to be ready for when the princess arrived, so that he could be a good representative for his hometown. The answer would leave him in complete and total shock.

"Why, she comes within the hour. Why?" the mother asked, leaving Link in complete shock and awe. The princess, the person that he had easily some of the highest respect for in the entire kingdom, was going to visit the town within the hour. He hastily finished and stood up, quickly leaving the kitchen and going into his room. He had to make sure that he looked good for when the princess came.

Time flew and trumpets soon sounded at the edge of town. Link was already down near the gate that led into the town, standing amongst the other people of the town as the royal entourage arrived. First came the king, a tall man that was long in his years, yet was wise and fair to the people of his kingdom. He was dressed in a rich, purple robe that fell down around him. A sword hung at his side, the white scabbard encrusted with gold and gems. Upon his head of white hair, he bore the royal crown, a glow emanating from a ruby inside the middle, supposedly gifted to his lineage by the goddess herself. The man's face did not appear to have aged, as he still had a rather young face, without wrinkles or droopy skin. It appeared as though he were still in his prime, his grayed hair being the only sign of his age.

Everyone knelt before him as a sign of respect, Link dropping his head, fearful that if he even saw the princess, he would not be able to take his eyes off of her. He heard someone dismount from their horse and approach the crowd, namely him. Curious, he waited until he was called, though he saw the shadow, presumably of a woman, appear in front of him and soon covered the light. His heart skipped a beat as she said, "You, boy, arise."

Link now turned his head up and for a moment halted even as he was starting to stand. Before him stood the princess herself. Her long, blond hair braided as it fell to her waist, Her face was flawless and smooth, like staring at a beautiful painting that was without blemish. The eyes that met his were a deep, lovely shade of blue, though Link could feel that there was a great wisdom and knowledge that was concealed by her young looks. Her lips curved into a gentle smile, her expression so beautiful that Link had to do his best effort to not swoon. His lips curved into a smile in response to hers. The princess said, "I am Princess Zelda. I have heard about you, Link. It is good to finally meet you in person. I was wondering if you would like to take my invitation to come to the castle tonight for our annual festivities?"

Link didn't know why he was being asked this question, as it made little to no sense. He looked around at the crowd around him, feeling every single person's eye upon him. He replied, "I, uh, that would be nice!" he felt extremely flustered and felt a burning in his cheeks. Then Zelda let out a small chuckle, her smile widening. Link felt the heat in his cheeks grow.

Zelda said to him, "Then come with us, Link. You will ride with me and my father to the castle. Please, don't be shy. Though I must admit, you look quite cute with that red on your face." Link put a hand to the back of his head, rubbing it out of sheer embarrassment. His eyes turned away, a stupid-happy grin plastered on his face. This had to be a dream, just had to be. He instinctively reached to his side and pinched himself, wondering if he would wake up. The action made Zelda laugh, one filled with mirth and amusement. "Silly, if you think you are dreaming, then you're in for a surprise. Still, I can see why one would think so. Now come along, you will be back in town tomorrow. You are staying at the castle for the night."

Link could not help but wonder if there was something else going on that he was going to be invited to stay at the castle. The castle to the land of Hyrule, as it was fondly named after the legends of old. Everyone started cheering as he was brought a horse. The horse was chestnut colored and with a white mane, and appeared strong and noble, like the other horses. He carefully mounted it, having never actually ridden a horse before. "This just gets better and better," he quietly muttered, feeling as if he were in a dreamland right now. He rode with the entourage out of the town, everyone shouting cheers as he left. He found himself riding next to Zelda and just relaxed to enjoy the real dream that had just come true before his very eyes.

**New story that I've been writing at school for the time being. I hope that you are definitely going to enjoy this particular story! PS: for those of you who are following the novelization, I'm discontinuing it, my muse for that story seems to have vanished and no matter how hard I try, I cannot get it back. And besides, novelizations aren't that fun for people to read, as far as I can tell. I hope that this suits more of your tastes!**


	2. Festivity

Chapter Two: The Festival

It was more than an hour's ride and the light was starting to dim as night set in. Link watched as the light faded from the main lights all across the dark roof above them. He then turned to Zelda and asked, "Why invite me or anyone that isn't royalty to this party? I mean, what makes me so special, I'm just a farmer."

Zelda turned her eyes toward him and her lips formed a smile again. "I shall tell you later when the time is right," she explained to him, turning back to the road. "Look, we are nearly to the castle."

They came up over the edge of a grass covered hill and as they arrived at the top, the castle came into view. This was his first time ever seeing the castle, particularly this close. It was enormous, a tower in the middle of the town reaching up to the ceiling above. The castle itself was one large square with multiple buildings spread through the inside as well as tall towers reaching to the ceiling as well. Link was held in awe as he beheld the sight, wondering what kind of architect it took to design this type of building. The reason he had never seen the castle now became apparent to him. He was living down in a valley that was opposite to the castle, so deep down that it was impossible to see behind the large hills that surrounded his town. Now that he was seeing it for the first time, he couldn't help but wonder what had stopped him from seeing this sight before.

Zelda turned and gave a smile, watching Link's expression. His jaw was dropped slightly, his eyes wide with awe and he was leaning over his horse, staring at the castle. "I take it you've never seen the castle before?" she asked before saying, "I'm not surprised, there are many people who haven't. It stuns me somewhat that there are so many who haven't seen the castle before. I didn't think that you would be one of them."

Link turned to Zelda with some surprise and then he asked, "How many people haven't seen this? I can see how we wouldn't but anyone living on the flatlands or anything like that?"

Zelda shrugged her shoulders and responded, "I wouldn't know how many people, and I just know that it's quite a lot of them. I don't know the exact number or the place that those people are from."

Link didn't ask more about the subject, leaving the information where it stood for now. He looked back at the castle as they rode closer. It was fifteen minutes of riding before they were actually inside of the castle walls. His ears were assailed with the loud cheering of thousands of people, no one really paying him much mind it would seem. For a moment, he thought that the crowd was going to quiet down in wonder at him being there, though he just watched the people out of curiosity. They were all dressed in various different types of clothing, ranging from rich to poor in terms of quality. The poorest seemed to be at the front, some dressed in mere rags. The richest were in the middle or at the back, dressed in robes or dresses of amazing tailorship, far better than what he saw made in his village. Perhaps they simply had access to different techniques of weaving or had more access to various colored threads to make them? He turned to Zelda who was watching him with a smile.

"What do you think, Link?" asked Zelda. "You seem confused with the renown that you're getting. It's not often that someone gets a chance to come with us into the castle and be honored along with the rest of our guests."

Link thought about his response before saying, "I'm surprised that they aren't staring at me in wonder. I'm out of place next to you people."

Zelda smiled a bit and then just winked to him. Had she done something to his appearance that he couldn't see or was there something else going on? Link shook his head and made sure to keep up with the rest of the entourage. As they arrived at the castle gates, several guards came to them and helped them dismount. One stopped him and asked, "What are you doing here among this entourage? You're not of roya-" he was stopped by a hand.

"That's enough! He is our honored guest and you shall treat him with respect!" the king said, his tone stern and cold. Link felt some fear when the king spoke, even if the words were not directly addressed to him. The guard backed off and nodded. "Sorry, you may go through," he said to Link who then walked past the guard. The tall, gray stone castle walls loomed before him, enormous steel doors hanging closed in front of him. Slowly, they swung open, no metallic screeching, scraping, or crunching could be heard, much to the young man's surprise. They silently swung inwards, revealing a straight, paved path leading through gardens on either side that sprawled out across the castle with only small cobblestone paths leading through.

The gardens were a luscious green, filled with colorful flowers that came in all the colors of a rainbow. The hedge mazes were perfectly trimmed with perfect edges and curves, making various shapes that Link could only guess at without seeing them from a bird's eye view. Guards patrolled the gardens on a regular basis, keeping an eye out for would-be intruders that wanted to get into the castle, either out of curiosity or malicious reasons. As he walked along the path, he noticed that they were designed to appear completely natural among the gardens as they walked to the main body of the castle itself within the walls. The main entrance to the castle was also large stone doors, painted black with golden engravings of the Triforce on both doors. Marble steps led up to them, the steps being laid out a foot above the other, making the climb swift but rather difficult as well, especially for Link, who had never seen very many staircases.

The doors swung open as they entourage approached, as if an invisible being had seen them coming and now opened the door for them. The very first thing that Link saw was the enormous opening hall that rested before him. A red carpet led along the main path, going upstairs to the many levels of the castle above. An enormous chandelier hung above them, lit by magic candles that kept the room at one consistent level of brightness. The floor was made of stone tiles so perfectly smoothed and fit together that there were no lines between them. It was an alternating black and white pattern, perfectly waxed and kept clean so that it was like a sort of mirror, reflecting whatever was above it. Off to the sides were several rooms that led further into the belly of the castle. Link also caught a glimpse of a side passage directly underneath the staircase on this bottom floor but was dragged along before he could question what it was. He decided that it would be best not to chance it, fearful he might be rebuked for asking much of anything.

However, he was soon informed of what the rooms were. Much to his surprise, the king began to speak to him, explaining what all was in the castle and that the party would be held down on this floor as soon as everyone was ready to attend., He was early, as he learned. The party itself would start an hour before midnight and continue on until the morning, if all went well. The rooms on the side were guest rooms where people could take to in order to recuperate from the dancing and partying, if they had the need to. Up above on the second floor, the east wing had all of the kitchens and food stores. On the west wing was the dining halls for the castle staff and guards. The third floor was the studies and libraries, each of them divided into categories of what they were meant to contain. The fourth floor contained the taller part of the libraries as well as more studies. The fifth and nearly final floor was where the king's bed quarters were, along with his queen, or where his queen would have been. Zelda slept in a room adjacent to them. The final floor was where the throne room was, where the King sat with his queen on his right, his daughter on his left, in times where a person of importance would meet them.

For now, Link was invited to stay in one of the guest halls. There were beds to rest in, sofas and chairs to relax in, some books to read, an area for snacks to be laid out, and a fireplace that was currently ablaze with comforting and magical fire that glowed a color most according to the collective personality of the people around it. Link wondered the purpose behind this…perhaps it was to see if there were anyone there that was a troublemaker or potential criminal, yet he could not see how it would work. As he stepped inside and took a seat near the fire, it began to glow green. Not a lackluster green either, a vibrant green, glowing so brightly that Link could barely even look at it, as it was starting to hurt his eyes slightly, despite the dark glass that it hid behind. Link could only imagine what would happen if it weren't dimmed.

He looked at the furniture. What was once a deep shade of red on the leather cushions of the chairs and sofa were now glowing almost white in the glow of the fire. The beds, all covered in navy blankets and sheets embroidered with satin gold lining, now were glowing a purple color in the fire. Suddenly, a voice spoke out to him, "Good, you are alone. We have to talk before someone else comes into this room."

The voice projected from the fireplace, part of it crackling slightly. The flame suddenly condensed into a figure of flame, standing out of the fireplace before the boy. Strangely, no fear entered his heart as he looked upon this being. "Who are you?" he asked, standing up face to face with the flaming figure.

"I am the embodiment of Farore, the goddess of courage. I have chosen this magic flame to be my messenger, should the hero present himself," the flame spoke, looking at Link directly, eyes never straying. It slightly unnerved the boy, making him feel uneasy around this embodiment. If it was of the goddess, then perhaps he was being blessed with some sort of gift or vision of something that was important.

Link chanced asking, "Why do you think me a hero? I have done no heroic deeds, I have not yet proven myself. I'm not worthy to carry the title of hero."

He could have sworn that he saw a smile appear where the face would be and a woman's face began to preside in the head of the flame. The voice, now clearly feminine and musical, spoke, "You are a humble one. That is good. Indeed, you must prove yourself a hero, but you are destined to become one. Should destiny be allowed, you shall find your way into becoming our chosen hero and leading this underwater kingdom to victory. Otherwise, should you ignore your calling, this land will perish. You will see the beginning of the end tonight and must act when you find the Triforce of Courage appearing in your hand."

Link said nothing in response as the flaming figure touched his hand. He winced, expecting a burn to appear there, yet he felt no pain. He looked down at the point of contact and saw a symbol appear on his hand, resembling a small orb with waves of magic projecting outwards from it. It then quickly vanished, as did the flame that was there. He looked where the fire had been and saw the fire, glowing with a dim green this time instead of the vibrant and colorful green that had once been there. "What just happened?" Link asked himself after a moment of silence, falling back into the chair and looking at his hand. There was no longer a mark there, as if nothing had ever happened to him.

Time flew by and soon he heard chatting and shouting outside of his room as people began to enter the castle. Suddenly, Zelda walked into the room in a bright white dance dress and handed him a suit. "You'll need that if you want to appear even remotely among the people that are here. Come back out once you have it on, Link! I can't believe father forgot to tell that to you!" with that, she left the room, leaving Link to start at the suit that he just been handed. He studied it for a moment but decided to don it, soon walking out with it on his person. He felt extraordinarily out of place with the suit on. Zelda was waiting just outside of the door. For a moment, a symbol of a triangle, three crescents interconnected at the corners with three orbs connected loosely within them, flashed before his eyes. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision.

Zelda asked him, "What is wrong?" Link looked at her and noticed that she was stunning in her dress. Her hair was braided down into a long ponytail that fell down to her back, the dress showing some cleavage, enticing his view down to her chest. It was all he could do to avoid the temptation. Normally in his village, it would have been acceptable for him to be looking at her all over, but this was the princess. He had to ignore his initial thoughts.

Link responded, "Nothing, Zelda. I just thought I saw something for a moment…perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me or something. Anyhow, what now? Are we going to dance, then?"

Zelda's lips curved into a gentle smile and she said to him, "That's only if you so desire, Link. I didn't think that you knew how to dance."

Link shrugged his shoulders and said, "There's only one way to find out, right?"

Zelda shook her head and said, "Maybe one day I'll teach you how. This isn't something you can just do. I would rather have you fit in right now rather than try and do things that you don't know how to do. My father will be making a speech soon blessing the New Year that is coming to this land as well as my coming of age. He might even celebrate yours as well, since you're here."

Link furled his brows in thought before asking, "Why was I invited here? I don't belong here, and you know that full well. So why bring me along for this?"

Zelda's smile straightened out again and she said to him, "I have my reasons, Link. Do not worry; you will see when the time comes." No sooner had she said that then the king himself stepped out onto the second floor balcony, the rest of the crowd gathering together and applauding and cheering before he motioned for them to quiet. "Hello, my fellow subjects of the crown. I am happy that all of you invited have gathered together for this special occasion. Today is a special day, the day when my daughter, Princess Zelda, comes to the age of being an adult." A large amount of applause and cheers were cast as Zelda began ascending the stairs. Link followed her as she had instructed him, noticing that the crowd gave him some looks but paid him no mind, as if they were not quite allowed to pay him that much mind just yet.

The king then continued, "We also have here a representative of a village that is one of the hardest working in the land, producing fine quality goods and food even without the aid of the other villages surrounding it, all vying to become acknowledged as the best of their region. His name is Link, he is but a simple farmer from the village and yet he has shown much dedication to his work, being the most recognized person among the villagers! He is here as our guest of honor tonight! Treat him with the same respect you would treat my daughter!" there was another loud set of applause, some of the voices seemed deeply impressed, others rather disgruntled at the choice of person that was there. Link felt uneasy again but shook his head to clear his mind of the unease that he felt. There was something in the air that gave him a feeling of apprehension.

Zelda turned her head to him, her lips distorting into a frown of concern. "Are you alright, Link?" she asked him,, placing one of her soft, gentle hands upon his shoulder.

Link turned to her and then said, "Sorry, I feel uneasy. I've felt this way ever since a man came to my village and tried to start a fight with me before the guards managed to arrest him. I feel terrible about it but I cannot say that he did not deserve it. However, he is coming back to my memory. There was something off about him. He claimed that he was of Gerudo descent."

Zelda thought about what he had just told her and then she asked, "Why do you feel that there is a need for concern?"

Link wondered as well why he felt the way he did. "He tried to start a fight with me," he said in a quiet voice, for a moment all his thoughts gathered together and then he realized, much to his horror, that the person could well be another form of the ancient evil that people had once thought to be sealed away. He looked up again and for a moment could have sworn that he saw a silhouette past one of the stained glass windows of the castle. Then the window shattered, an arrow flying through, its appearance like a shadow against the light. It did not hit him, nor Zelda, but instead hit the king directly in his chest. For a moment, he recoiled from the blow but his body halted in midair. His skin began to turn black, as if it was becoming a shadow and for a moment, Link just saw a shadowy silhouette of the king standing there before the black vanished, leaving behind the clothing, his sword, and his crown, which rolled to the feet of the Princess.

There was a silence that pervaded the room. No one was able to speak, not even Zelda. Link was finally the first person to speak, "The king! He's gone!" he looked to the window and saw a shadow, shapeless in form, holding a black bow. The shape vanished like a shadow disappears into the darkness. Just a moment after, the clamoring and panic broke out. People rushed up the stairs to try and find any evidence. Zelda had guards come up to make sure she was alright. Perhaps the worst thing that happened, however, Link was seized and nearly executed on the spot, the guards claiming that he might have been a traitor to the cause of ending the royal line. Finally, Zelda shouted, not in a panicked voice but in a very strong and stern tone, "Everyone, stop this at once!" silence fell over the crowd and the guards immediately halted what they were doing, letting Link stand again. Zelda stared straight at the guards and snapped, "He is not a traitor! I would know, for the Triforce of Courage is upon his hand!"

The guards gasped and looked at Link's left hand. Link as well turned to look, finding that she was right, much to his surprise. There, upon the back of his hand, glowed the Triforce of Courage. The feminine voice of Farore spoke to him, saying, "You have been chosen for a great task. Meet me at the top of the tallest tower of this castle tonight, once the madness has settled."

Zelda now spoke again, pushing the voice out of his head, "People of this kingdom, as I must, I hereby assume the role as Hyrule's leader. My father is dead…we will have time to grieve for him, for he was a good man and a good father to me. I want guards to go out of this castle and find who shot this arrow at my father!"

Link said, "Zelda, I saw the figure. It was a shadow that vanished the moment I looked back at it, holding a bow of obsidian. I have never seen anything like it." There was now quiet clamoring going on as several of the people began mentioning ghosts, apparitions, maybe even something else altogether. Zelda called the advisors into a council and left the room entirely. Agonizing hours passed as people left, the talk of their tongues being all about the sudden and mysterious assassination of the king, the appearance of the Triforce of Courage, among other things. A guard had told Link that tomorrow, they would hold a council and discuss what he, as chosen bearer of the Triforce of Courage, was to go and do. Link sat in his room, waiting for the noise to die down, contemplating this sudden position that he had been thrust into.

Soon, the noise was gone. He stood and began heading up the stairs to the tall tower to meet Farore, his mind still running through the potential reasons the decision had been made. He stopped before Zelda's room and heard nothing. He was surprised that he didn't hear her crying. Wouldn't anyone be at the loss of their father or mother? He shook his head and continued on, going up past the throne room up a very long staircase to the top of one of the towers. There was a relatively high wall surrounding the top, and for good reason. The wind that was generated by magical forces here blew strongest at this point, sometimes in surprisingly strong gusts, enough to potentially push a person if they were not careful. However, there was no wind rushing past the tower as there should have been.

Before Link could question what was going on, a bright green light descended from the roof of the immense cavern and landed in front of him, materializing into the green girl that had seemingly appeared before. This time, she was wearing a light dress and wore a necklace, the same symbol as had appeared on his hand now hanging on the necklace. "Young hero, you have come as appointed," she said.

Link bit his bottom lip and then asked, "Why me? Why choose me to be the hero? Surely there are others who are more apt to be chosen for this than I."

The girl laughed quietly and told him, "You are a descendant of the heroic bloodline. You are destined for great things. However, you are right, you are not quite ready to undertake the task ahead. You must receive the training and power of your ancestors in order to succeed in your quest."

Link tried to process just what Farore meant by this. "You mean that I'm actually going to have to train? In the midst of the king's death?!" he asked, looking at the woman. "Now is hardly the time to wait and train! It is time for action!" he told her before she held up a finger to his mouth, the smile that had once been there replaced with a disappointed frown.

She stayed silent for a moment before speaking, "Link, you hardly have the ability to fight the dark foe that you are up against. The shadows are strong warriors that hide in the shadow, striking when one least expects them to, and from places where no one would look. They are beyond your skill to track and kill. However, you are not going to sit around in your training. You will help to defend the land of Hyrule through your training, and as you learn your true strengths and skills, you will soon be able to save the land of Hyrule from certain death."

Link stayed silent as this was explained to him, his mind running through everything that was being told to him. This was something that he felt was above his league. Yet he could not bring himself to refuse this. He looked down at his hand then sighed. "I will take your word for it, but I still don't-" he started, looking back up and stopping. There was no one there, only a pendant with the symbol of Farore upon it. He reached down and picked it up, admiring it for a moment before something just compelled him to place it around his neck. His body acted on its own as he almost absent mindedly placed it onto his neck. He then turned to go back down the stairs when Zelda arrived on the top of the tower, her face stained somewhat with tears.

"Link?" she asked, trying hard not to have her voice crack from the sorrow that she currently had been letting flow out of her.

He turned and then sighed, feeling awful about the situation. "Zelda, if there was something I could have done, I-" he started but Zelda put a finger to his lips.

"Hush, Link," she said to him and her lips formed a gentle smile. "There was nothing you could have done. The only thing that can be done now is to follow the goddess's advice."

Link quirked an eyebrow before he asked, "You heard the conversation, then?"

She nodded her head and said, "Nayru guided me here to help you know where you would need to go when morning arrived again. The area that you need to go to first should be relatively familiar."

Link smiled a bit and then said, "I guess I'm ready for it. But familiar? What other place would I be familiar with? Unless you mean my hometown?"

Zelda nodded and then said, "Your hometown, Link. That is the first place you need to go to."

**I hope that you guys like the story so far! ^_^**


	3. Home

Chapter Three: Home?

Link had left the castle the next morning, leaving rather early. He was armed now, an iron sword attached to a belt on his right, a small, metal buckler slung on his back. He had taken two days to get ready for his journey back home and during his time there, he had heard some disturbing news. He could still recall the words that were said to him regarding the integrity of his hometown, which had apparently crumbled in the short time following the king's death. He had no idea what was going on that could cause the type of mayhem that was going on.

The first bit of news that disturbed him to the core, was that the man got out of jail and fled the village with a scared relic in his hands. He has not been seen since. However, since he left, a dark forest has been rapidly appearing on the outskirts of the village. Then the second piece of news left him in horror and had him leaving that day. And as he got over a hill, he came to a halt, his eyes wide as he sharply drew in breath at the sight he saw. His hometown was lost to an enormous forest that had appeared out of nowhere, its roots still growing outwards and trees arising as it sought to engulf the land around it and spread endlessly.

"What manner of sorcery is this?!" he asked out loud, fixated on the growing forest. The roots continued to spread out from the trees and move forward. Every ten feet or so, another tree gradually rose out of the roots and grew into full mast, standing high and tall. The wood was gnarled and unpleasant to the eye, the leaves black as coal, the canopy blocking out all the light that could enter into it. Link took a step back, as if tempted to run from the forest, but was halted by the presence of an unknown figure. Turning, he found himself looking at a silhouette, about his height, with no face or distinguishable form. Without a word or sound, it shoved him, causing him to stumble back and roll down the hill with a loud cry of surprise and horror. He tumbled into the roots, which sucked him in under them.

For a moment, Link covered his head with his arms, fearing the worst as horror fell upon him. Then he felt the roots cross over him, leaving him sprawled on the ground between the trees. He placed his hands on the ground, feeling stone underneath, as if the trees had sucked the grass and life away. "This forest, it's devouring the land, I must do something!" he said, standing and hitting his head on a low branch. He gasped in pain, kneeling back down and holding his head. He then came to the realization as he tried to find the branch above him. He could see nothing around him but black, like staring at a wall of obsidian with no light to shine off of it.

He reached up to feel the branch above him and quickly retracted his hand. There was something nasty about the branch that he could not yet discern. He had never felt the texture on it before. "Good going, Link, you went on a heroic journey thinking yourself amazing as the goddess had said and now here you stand, in the middle of a forest of darkness, with no way to get out of it!" he said to himself, realizing that his words were echoing into the darkness. "Oh, what I wouldn't do for a light…" he groaned, looking around as he hoped his eyes could adjust and find some source of light. Yet no matter how long he waited, his eyes constantly attempting to adjust, nothing made itself apparent to him. There was no light to see by.

Hours passed and Link finally decided that he couldn't just wait around anymore. "I'll just go in a direction and hope," he said, standing up, careful of any branches above him before he began to carefully walk forward, trying to find his way through feeling. The woodwork felt terrible on his hands, like it was squishing, giving way to his touch, which made him feel entirely uncomfortable. Each time he touched them, they also audibly groaned, as if they were in pain at getting touched by his hand. He wasn't sure what to think of the situation that he had been thrust into by this quest, blind and having to feel his way through a forest of death and plague, most likely. He would be lucky if he wasn't infected himself.

Suddenly, he heard a voice call out, "Who's there?" it sounded human enough, though he did not recognize it.

Fear gripped his heart. What if it were an enemy? He couldn't see anything and that man would be able to kill him on the spot. Courage drove him forward, however, a sudden burst of confidence that he did not understand arose within him. "I'm a friend! Someone who was swallowed by the forest!" he called out, somehow able to keep his voice in control without it cracking due to his near state of panic. A thought occurred to him in the back of his mind that Farore must have been extremely displeased with him.

The voice then responded, "Thank heavens it isn't another one of those monsters. Here, can you come over here?"

Link felt relieved that this person perhaps wasn't a bad person, though he still felt wary. Nonetheless, he decided to voice the fact that he was unable to see. "Where are you?" he called out into the darkness.

There was no response but he could now hear footsteps coming closer. He freaked out and began backing up when the man said, "Calm down, boy, I'm not going to hurt you. Now, let me see what's going on, alright?"

Link straightened up and nodded, standing still as the man approached him. Apparently the man could see him, perhaps there was something about Link's condition that was different? "Oh dear," said the man. "Your eyes are black as coal…the forest must have cursed you as well as some of the other people that are in here."

Link's heart dropped, as if weighted down by the words themselves. "Cursed?" he repeated, dumbfounded. "What kind of sorcery is spawning this foul place? I can't see a thing now and I find out that I'm cursed? How long does the blindness last, then?"

There was a moment of silence before the man said, "I'd have to say that I don't know, son. Sometimes it vanishes after a day, some people still have it after being stuck in here for a long time. Though perhaps you're blessed. This forest is a scary sight indeed. Only the daring venture to want to make their way through it after seeing what the thing looks like."

Link thought about his current situation. If that was the truth, then perhaps he was blessed with not being able to see what was going on. The trees felt disgusting enough as it was. He now thought about his reason for being there, something that he had almost forgotten due to the turn of events that he had encountered upon entering the forest. "I'm here to get rid of this forest, as a warrior coming from Hyrule Castle."

There was silence and then then the older man asked, "Hyrule castle? Has this blasted forest really spread so far?" he asked out loud. Link could only imagine what he was doing. "I'll be damned. Ever since that man escaped from the prison over at the town that is at the center of this epidemic, this forest has been growing. No one knows what the cause of it is nor how to stop this forest from spreading. Maybe enlightenment will come to one of us given enough time. That is, we hope."

Link could only imagine what would happen if the forest reached the castle. The entire castle would be torn apart by this forest, unless some magic would only allow the forest to creep around the castle and surround it, preventing anyone from ever making their way into the castle or out of it. He sighed and then asked, "Where can I find the town I came to find? I come from that town, I went away to a festival that I had been invited to that…went worse than I had expected."

The man responded, "I can take you there, boy. Here…" he was suddenly hoisted onto the man's back. Link clung to him, finding that he was wearing heavy leather armor. The man was also very tall, perhaps taller than Link had gathered from hearing him. Link was hauled off, his ears catching the sound of something squelching underneath the man's heavy boots with each step that was taking. However, that soon changed as the boots came down on stone, the sound echoing into the forest as if it was a tightly packed space. Link could see nothing so he could only guess that they were on some sort of a road leading down to the village that he was talking about. That is, he hoped that this was the case.

Soon, Link was set down, though he could hear clamoring all around him. They were voices that he recognized. "This the spot, boy?" the man asked, with Link only giving a nod in response. He couldn't believe that he had found his way to his hometown so quickly. However, he also knew that he had a job to do here, a job that he could no longer complete. He was blind and could not fight effectively, something that would be necessary if he were to fight off the hoard that he was going to be up against.

"Link!" he heard from behind him before he was nearly tackled to the ground. "You're back! After I heard what happened at the castle and the fact that this forest was spreading, I began to worry! But you're here and well!"

Link turned around and looked where his mother's voice was coming from. "I'm not…entirely well," he shamefully admitted. "I am blind, this forest has cursed me with this and I can no longer see your face or anything in this town. It is like staring into an area without any light."

Then he heard the taller man say, "Miss, is this your son? I'm sorry that I found him in the condition that I did. But he did say that he was here for something, a task that only the elder of this village could help him with now."

For a time there was a dreadful silence that had Link wondering what had happened. "But Link, your eyesight has been so perfect, how…h-how…" his mother started, soon breaking into sniffling before hugging him, this notion her son had gone blind being a hard blow to her heart. Link felt her tears begin to dampen his shirt as he patted her back.

"Mother, please, I can find a way to break this curse, but I need-" Link started before hearing a loud crash. Many of the women screamed and some of the men as well. "What is going on?!" Link asked, now desperately wishing that he could see what was going on.

The man told him, "A tree has smashed through one of the houses, namely the house of the blacksmith here in town. It's not an ordinary tree either…it's running red, as if with blood, it has glowing eyes, it's…terrible to look at. It's not moving, though, it's like any of the other trees, but it's…oh, by the goddesses…" the man seemed to catch his breath. "That poor man…"

Link didn't need any more description to know what had happened. He began to chew his bottom lip, his eyes scanning through the darkness as he scrambled for his thoughts. "Take me to the elder of this village, though I do not know how he will be able to help. But if he can help me see at all, I will be able to do something here," Link declared. There was some talking about the townspeople before his mother now asked him, "Link, what are you intending to do? Surely you do not think that you could do something about this forest, do you?"

Link just nodded his head, still hearing his mother sobbing quietly. "First the man escaping, then the assassination of our king, then the forest, now you're blind…will things just go pleasantly for once?! What happened to peace in this land?!" she asked, going into a mild state of hysteria.

"Mom, calm down," Link said, but it was to no avail. She began to breath faster and faster, trying to ascertain her thoughts but not being able to calm herself down. She finally just slumped into his arms, the stress being too much for her as she fainted into his arms. Link felt her removed from his arms, possibly by the larger man, who said, "Don't worry about her, many of the people have been like this. Your brother has been having to help your mom out an extra amount with her chores because she's been too stressed to work as much. You being here and being blind has, unfortunately, served to pile onto her stress."

Link's heart sank again. Fear was gripping him as well as the new found guilt that he felt. He felt that he was responsible in some form for this mess that was being caused now. Whether he was or not, he could not tell. He was guided through the darkness finally into one of the wooden houses. He heard an elderly man chanting in some foreign language, something that he had heard before, but could not understand a word. The chanting stopped as he presumed that the old man now turned to face him. "Link? You have returned! And yet there is something different about you, something evil hangs over you. What has happened, boy?"

Link was quick to respond, "The forest has cursed me. I can no longer see anything, not even a hand in front of my face in a clearly lit room."

Yet again, there was more silence, save for the old man muttering under his breath about how unfortunate Link was. Then the tone changed in his voice and he said, "Describe it to me. Is there a fog? Or is it purely black?"

Link wondered why that question was asked. However, he answered to the latter, to which the old man exclaimed, "Then the curse has not fully affected you, as it has the other villagers! I can fix this! Please, be patient…I can come up with a magic spell that should grant you at least some sort of vision, but until this forest goes away, you will have to live with not being able to see perfectly."

Link understood the consequences and was willing to deal with that. He gave his confirmation to the elder and then, after a brief discussion on the length of time it would take, was guided back to his house. Everything passed like a blur, as Link was so eager to be able to just see again. His talks with his little brother signaled that everything was going well except for that his mother had been stricken with both grief and anxiety for the longest time after hearing what had been going on at the castle. Even now, his mother was in a state of grief that, no matter what Link told her, she would not snap out of. He wondered if there was a way he could ever cure this state of grief that she was stuck in.

Hours passed and there was no sign that the elder was ready. Link was contemplating closing his eyes and sleeping for now as he waited, but even as he had just sat on the edge of his bed, he heard the footsteps of his brother followed by his eager voice, "Link, the elder says that he's ready to see you! The big guy that brought you here is ready to bring you to him!"

Link sighed and then said, "Way to make me tired with waiting. Alright, well, I suppose I should get going, then."

It felt like yet another blur as Link found his way to the elder again. He could smell something quite strong, yet it was a pleasant smell, something he could not quite describe as related to anything that he knew about. He wondered what concoction had been mixed up in order to aid him with his eyesight, and whether it would work as well as the elder had said it would for him. Link then wondered what this would do for his vision…would it only allow him to see shapes, gray, or just vague near-sight or something quite like that?

He was then handed a cup and instructed to carefully drink the substance inside. Link grimaced…although the smell was a good smell, it didn't remind him of anything that he would want to eat or drink. In fact, it reminded him something of one of the magic-based cleaning products that he used before, or even of a grass fertilizer that was designed to smell pleasant. Nonetheless, he put the cup's edge to his lips and tipped it slowly until the liquid touched his lips. He parted them, letting the thick fluid flow into his mouth, bit by bit. It had a disgusting taste, similar to cod oil or other medicines he had taken when he was a child. With all his willpower, he didn't stop drinking it until it was all down his throat. He then put the cup aside, his eyes squeezed shut nice and tight and his face contorted from disgust. However, the moment he opened his eyes, he saw the most peculiar thing.

HE was right about only being able to see outlines and shapes…the world was still black with everything in shapes now. He could only barely make out any features, though now he could see the man in front of him. He lacked hair and was heavily wrinkled, as if age had not been kind to him in the slightest. He was also a good head shorter than Link was. A smile crossed the man's lips as he asked, "How are you being able to see? Are you seeing anything at all, did the potion work?"

Link slowly nodded and then replied, "It did work to an extent. All I can see is that everything is still black and I can barely make out anything."

The elder nodded and then said, "So it wasn't quite powerful enough…oh well, I can try again if you'd like-"

Link shook his head and held out his hand, saying, "No, I think I'll work with this, thank you very much. I don't want to accidentally choke on the next potion you make that's like that, particularly if it's going to be stronger than this last one." He then let out a quiet sigh and asked, "Now then, can you tell me where the source of the forest is?"

A silence fell upon the room before the elder asked, "Why do you want to know that, Link? Surely you aren't thinking of going there in an attempt to stop this forest from spreading?"

Link sighed and then said, "It's my duty to the princess to go and deal with the source. I was commissioned with the task and I will complete it before I leave here."

"Oh, is that so?" a familiar voice rang out that caused Link to freeze. It was the man from the other day, only this time, instead of anger, there was pure, almost joyous malice in his voice. He turned to see the outline of the man, with him wielding a sword that vibrated with black energy. "You are here to claim the life of this beautiful forest that I have created, that I intend to have cover this precious land of yours, Sub-Terran? I think not!"

**Hopefully this is progressing well enough for your readers. ^_^ I aim to please, if I'm not doing well, let me know where at and I'll try and improve.**


	4. A Challenge

Chapter Four: A challenge

Link swallowed hard, seeing the figure standing before him. Even without the color needed to see the figure entirely, the voice told Link everything that he needed to know. His heart began racing, feeling like it was going to pound out of his chest. He looked at the fearsome man, knowing that he had gained far more power than Link was ready to tangle with. He was just starting out on his quest, after all. The man threw his head back and let out a loud laugh before pointing his sword at Link, a cold presence falling over the young man. Link felt like a fly compared to this man's new, fearsome power.

The Gerudo man asked, "You are honestly going to try and ruin this forest that I have been creating? I admire your air of confidence, but you should know that, so long as I am the ruler of this forest, there will be no destroying these trees. They are beautiful and useful to me all at the same time! I can cover this land, conquer it through a sea of magic trees! I can kill whomever I want by sewing the proper seed into their house or body, watching a new, blood soaked tree spring forth from the seed, destroying the person completely. I could even do it to you, if I didn't want the satisfaction of murdering you myself, of course."

Link held his ground, even as fear gripped him. He managed to hold strong as he said, "I am not going down without a fight."

The gerudo man just let out another laugh and then asked, "What is it with you young heroes? Always throwing your life to the wind as if it never mattered and then wondering why it is that you have brought these terrible things upon yourselves! But no matter…if you want to try and stop this forest from spreading, I'll let you try."

Link quirked one of his eyebrows, still tensed and nervous about this proposition. "What are you saying?" Link asked, the others in the room staying silent as the two confronted each other with words. "You aren't going to just attempt to kill me right now?" Link said, feeling ready for a fight, his hand slowly reaching for his sword at his side.

The grin already plastered on the man's face widened. "Because if I wanted to, I could kill you now," he said before vanishing. Link gasped as he suddenly felt a chill across his throat. He realized that the blade of that sword was now resting against his throat. "One swipe, Link…that is all it would take now. You see? You have so little power as compared to me. Even with the goddess, Farore, you're nothing compared to me." He slid the blade along his throat, but it did not cut Link's throat. Link stepped forward and spun around to find himself facing the man, whose expression had faded from its amusement and he now held a very threatening demeanor. Link's heart was racing now as he realized just how outmatched he was.

"That is why I am giving you a chance to try, Link," said the man in a very serious tone. No hint of sarcasm could be found in him. "It would be no fun just killing you for the sake of it, not when you've been chosen to become my most feared enemy. Why strike you down where you stand, as easy as that might be? I want to see if the goddesses have placed their faith correctly, as they have done time and again. If they have, I might just step back and let things resume their course."

Link began to back off, no longer even daring to reach for his sword. "And if they haven't?" he asked, realizing that fear was overtaking him.

At this, the man merely shrugged his shoulders before throwing the blade down at Link's feet. It fell down in an unnatural way, as if the hilt were being dragged through the air until it now pointed in a particular direction. "Follow the hilt of that blade. It will take you to your destination. But be wary now, for I shall warn the guardians there that you are to come for them." Link looked up to reply but the man was gone, the only trace of him left being the sword that now rested at Link's feet, the hilt pointing to the east.

A heavy silence fell over the room as no one spoke, nor dared even breathe unless it was in a quiet tone. Everyone feared that if another sound were uttered, the monster that had just been there would appear, perhaps to change his mind and destroy their chance at surviving this nightmare. Link finally spoke, asking, "Can you tell me what I will find to the east, if this sword points me in the right direction?"

The elder took a moment to think before responding. "The only thing I can conclude is the ancient temple. Once named the Temple of Life, it has now fallen to ruin, corrupted by darkness. It was sealed away, with this same type of dark forest surrounding it. Now, I fear that the barrier has been broken, and this forest has decided to spread in an attempt to corrupt the very life of this land." He looked to Link and then said, "You are truly our last hope, Link. Please, be careful." He shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know what I would tell your mother if you were to die. Hell I still do not know what to say about you being chosen as the hero. That may well truly devastate her, the images of her son trying to perform such dangerous tasks laid before him."

A burst of confidence entered Link and he said, "Do not worry. I will prove to you that I am the hero and that the faith of the goddesses is not unfounded. I will not only stop this forest from spreading. I shall destroy it forever!" He spoke in a loud and confident voice, but doubts crept into his mind. Could he uphold his oath now? Anxious thoughts began to tell him that he may well not yet be prepared to end this forest's spread. He looked down at his left hand, which now bore the symbol that Farore had given him. He also looked back at the pendant, noticing that it was glowing as well. Though he could not see the color to it, he could guess that the vibrant green was there. Perhaps Farore was giving him the strength to carry on with his quest.

The elder nodded his head slowly, saying, "Do not worry, Link. You are being guided by a divine will. And, if you are ever in doubt, remember that we have complete faith and confidence in you." With that, the elder turned to a table, took out a large sheet of paper and began drawing on it with a pen. He drew with amazing speed, though he did not seem to be rushing or being hasty with the map whatsoever. Soon, he walked back to Link with the paper and handed him a map that detailed the path that he would have to take to reach the temple. "Stay vigilant, Link, and keep your sword ready at all times. There is no telling what all dangers await you out in this dark forest."

The farewells were said by the townspeople, most praying for his safe return. There were some that begged for him not to go, that it was simply too dangerous. Link did not see all of the townspeople there; most prominent was his mother, who had not shown up at all. Feeling sad that she had to miss his undertaking this task, he determined that he would show his success to her after all was said and done. He turned and faced the forest and, for a moment, felt daunted. The forest seemed to glare at him with invisible eyes, warning him not to attempt the journey. Once again, he felt the warmth of confidence spread through him and he began moving his legs, taking strides down to the forest and stepping into the trees. Now Link could see the details up close. The trunk of the trees was definitely gnarled and shriveled, the like of which reminded him of extremely wrinkled skin. There was also a strange substance coating the outside of the trees, though Link could not identify what it was thanks to the lack of color in his vision.

Each stride that Link took into the forest, the confidence slowly diminished. There was something evil at work, trying to destroy what little determination he had to keep going forward. The doubting thoughts began to plague his mind once more, nagging at him with each step he took. All that Link could hear was what sounds he made, with his footsteps, his breathing, his clothes making noise as he walked, his sword and shield both swinging to and fro. There was no other life in this forest, nothing that made sound. The familiar chirping of birds was gone, the chatter of squirrels that one might expect in a forest was not there. There were no bugs either, as much as he would normally detest them. He now yearned for something to make noise other than himself.

He was granted that wish, though he soon wished that it hadn't been granted. A noise like a loud roar, deep and bellowing, echoed through the forest somewhere off to his left. His head spun, followed by his body, but he could not make out what was there. Perhaps fortunately, the roar was rather distant, but then he heard a voice in his head. It was Farore, her voice filled with worry and urgency. "Run, Link! Run as fast as you can and don't stop until you reach the temple!" Link could only follow her words and took off running through the forest. He didn't dare look behind him and was glad that he didn't, for fear began overtaking him. He could hear something behind him, the sharp sound of a blade dragging along the ground as he ran. Soon, the temple came into view but he paid no mind to it. He dashed between two tall, obsidian towers before a long, narrow bridge. He was about halfway across it when he heard it cracking underfoot. Panicking he quickened his pace before leaping forward and landing on the only part of the bridge that stayed up. The bellow could be heard right behind him, but it quickly receded, going downwards. Whatever thing had been chasing him, it had fallen down into the abyss below. Dread still filling his mind, Link stood and walked to the huge doors before him and threw himself against one, desperately trying to open it up. It took all his might but he pushed it open step by step and now walked inside.

He now relaxed against the wall, shuddering as his senses came back to him. "What in the world was that thing?" he asked but got no response. Farore had only talked to him just in time to get him to run but now had left him to his senses. Perhaps it was for the best, as divine intervention such as that was often frowned upon, at least so he had heard. He now wondered briefly if that was true, but then remembered where he was. He was inside the corrupted temple. Looking out over the entrance he found that it was completely barren, save for stairs barred by hideous black walls of thorny sticks. There were many doors on this floor, but most of them were all covered in those thorns, save for two of them. Link looked between the two of them and then he took his shield onto his right arm, looking around the room, fearful that something was going to jump out in this unnatural darkness.

He stepped towards the first door, the one closest to him on his left and tried the door. Upon the handle refusing to turn, he looked at the doorhandle to see a keyhole. "Locked," he muttered under his breath as he turned to the door that was off farther to his right. He started across the hallway, his footsteps echoing in the eerie silence of this enormous hallway. He began to fear that something was going to jump out and attack him. He had just reached the door when he heard chains clinking behind him. He spun around but saw nothing. Something had simply made him jump. "Some hero I am, jumping at noises in the shadows," he muttered to himself, feeling ashamed that he felt so afraid. He knew that he had to put aside his fear if he wanted to move forward here and did his best, turning back around and turning the knob on this door. It swung inwards, revealing a long hallway with armored statues on all sides, all with weapons covered in thorns. The floor was perfectly smooth, however, save for a few stones that seemed slightly out of place. He chose to step over the stones, his mind telling him that the stones would most likely trigger a trap.

He started to step over the stones when he heard one of the statues creak. He jumped back out of instinct as the axe fell down and clanged nice and loud, echoing through the halls. The loud noise made Link cringe, fearing that there might be some creature that would hear the loud noise and come to investigate. However, he stood there for about half a minute, ready to find a spot to hide if nothing came around to find him, but Link heard no other noise, other than the statue creaking as it lifted the axe back into position.

Curious, Link now went back over and this time stepped onto the stone, having it quietly sink into the ground. The statues did not move as he passed between them now. As soon as he stepped off the stone, it lifted in the same, eerily quiet manner. He would have expected it to have the sound of stone grinding against stone as it went down and lifted back up. Instead, everything seemed deathly quiet, save for that loud echo that he could swear he still heard echoing through the castle.

He proceeded down the hall, stepping down on the stones to pass between the statues. Passing the final one, he let out a sigh of relief before quickly covering his mouth as the sigh came out as extremely loud, louder than his footsteps had been so far. He looked back at the statues in a state of fear and then back at the door in front of him. He reached forward and began to slowly draw it open, though he feared what lay beyond. The next room was very dark, almost to the point that Link could not see. Something in his head told him that this might be a good place to hide, should he be found by that thing again. That is, if the monster survived the fall off of that bridge into the endless abyss.

He looked around briefly before spotting a lantern that was currently unlit. He carefully picked it up and checked to see what oil was still inside, finding that it was actually full as it was. Link put it in his pack before continuing to look around the room. The lantern, however, had been the only thing he could have seen. He pulled the lantern back out in contemplation, wondering whether or not it would be a good idea to light the lantern to be able to see. He finally chanced it, lighting the lantern and hearing the small roar of the flames as they erupted within. Light shone into the room, revealing that it was a storeroom of some sort, though all of the shelves were empty. Save for one that had a letter on it. He stepped closer to the letter and found it folded in half, the words, "To my dearest son" written in ink across the top. Link carefully took the letter and unfolded it to read what it said.

"My son, I am sorry to have left you in such a hurry, but I needed to leave this damned castle to seek help for the master. I think he's going insane. Every day he goes out into the garden, I have told you this. It is here that he seeks help from the spirits of the world to give him comfort in his nightmares. However, today was different. At first, he expressed that he did not want to go out to the garden, though he never specified why. After going into the garden again, he stopped in the middle. Then without warning, he took out a knife and began cutting all the plants, screaming out in rage. A servant went out to stop him and, well, there's now a reason why the master needs help. He's been chained in the dungeon and is rapidly worsening, roaring now instead of shouting. I can only hope that I might find a cure for him, else all of us might die," Link muttered quietly to himself as he read the paper. No sooner had he finished than he heard a loud roar similar to the one he had heard outside. This one was much deeper and was coming from the depths of the temple. The letter in his hand also turned to dust, falling away out of his hands.

"I'd better get going. There's no telling what might come out of here if I don't figure out a way to stop it. What was that thing that was chasing me, then? Was that the master of this area having been corrupted?" he muttered as he stepped out into the hallway and stopped, his eyes fixated on the statues. They were no longer standing on the pedestals but rather stood in the middle of the hall, all facing him directly, weapons drawn. Link drew his sword and then said, "Bring it!" It was all he could do to make sure his voice didn't crack out of his growing state of fear and dread.

The statues collapsed, falling harmlessly to the floor, pieces of armor scattering all about. A loud voice echoed through the room, "What a pitiful excuse of a hero you are. Look at how fearfully you crawl through the temple, cowering against everything you come up against. And yet you haven't left yet. Oh, that's right, you can't leave!" the voice said before malicious laughter "But if you do make it through this temple in the end, I will still hold you in respect. You might even live to grow out of this baby that you are. But for now, you must continue on."

Link growled, wondering if the man who put him up to this challenge sought amusement at mocking him at every turn. He then said to himself, "I won't let him get away with this." He stepped past all of the armor and walked back out into the main hall. So far he had not found a key of any form, though that stopped when his foot stepped onto something out of place. He lifted his foot and looked down to see exactly what it was he had been searching for. He stooped down to pick it up when he heard that terrible roar again, this time just past one of the walls. A stone collapsed off the wall as a long, blood covered blade burst partway through the wall before retracting back. Link found that he had instinctively raised his shield and had his sword ready, but his legs were poised were to run, not fight. He heard the blade dragging along the ground for a second, heading away from the wall. Link quickly reached down and took the key into his hand, standing up and running to the door out into the main hall.

He dashed across the hall to the locked door, keeping the key in his hands the entire time. He just arrived at the door when steel bars slammed down in front of him, blocking his access to the door. Then the splintering of wood greeted his ears and he spun around, seeing a shadow with glowing red eyes with that same, blood covered blade for an arm. "It was a fun run, Link, but now your end draws near!" the man's voice echoed, the direction indicating to Link that it was coming from the beast itself.

Link stood straight, turning to face the beast as focused his glance entirely on the beast. A sense of calm swept over his being as he raised his shield and readied his sword. He bent his knees some as he began approaching the beast, keeping a wide and stable stance. The beast just glowered at him, though it began to retreat as Link advanced. It made a move forward, to which Link reacted by simply stopping for a brief second before moving forward again, ready to face his opponent. The beast lashed at him with its sword, making a wild swing as if the beast itself were panicking in Link's presence. Link used his shield and deflected the blow before bringing his own blade around in a very hard and swift swing, cleaving the monster in two. With a horrible roar, it vanished, leaving nothing behind but a glowing shard that flew into Lin. His vision turned black and white, though at least now he could see another color besides shades of darkness.

"How is this possible?! You have defeated a beast that you should have been cowering in front of! Perhaps there is more to you than meets the eye," the voice declared. Link growled, wanting to kill this arrogant monster that once was a man.

However, unlike before, he said nothing out loud as he turned back to the door. The bars slid back into the archway above the door, giving Link full access to continue on. For a second, he remembered that he had been holding the key in his hand. What had he done with it when he had put his focus on the monster? He looked at his hands, not seeing the key clasped firmly along with either the hilt of his sword or the grip of his shield. He sheathed his sword and began searching his pockets, finding it in one of the pockets on his green tunic. "Hm, must have put it away subconsciously," he muttered to himself as he put the key in the giant, chained padlock on the door and turned it. The contraption spun before detaching from the chains and vanishing into a puff of smoke. The door opened automatically in front of him, opening into a room with a staircase leading down into a lower level of the castle. Taking a deep breath, he stepped down into the depths of the temple, ready to face what dangers awaited him.

It was getting too dark to see, even with the help of his vision now. Link still felt wary of taking his lantern, fearful that the light would attract something that he could not kill, or worse, something that would sneak up on him while it could see him. However, he pushed all those worried thoughts aside and drew his lantern. He lit it again, the flame emitting its glow and producing a bright white light. He hung the lantern on his belt and then peered into the eerily dark room.

It expanded out into a rather large, open room with what looked like an empty pit in the middle of it. Six pillars surrounded the opening in a hexagonal pattern, extending up to the roof, which was covered in thick, black, twisted vines that spread all across the roof. As Link approached the pit, a bright fire lit up inside, though he could not see what color it was. "Well done. You've actually mustered up enough guts to make it down here. But be warned, things will actually try to kill you down here. You'd best be prepared. And, seeing how you handled yourself previously, I'm wondering if you aren't just going to run and hide like the coward you are."

Link growled in anger again, feeling rage welling up within him at this man's taunts. He calmed himself again and looked around the now brightly lit room. There were three doors, one at the far end and two on his left. The right side of the room simply had a huge wall, though it looked different. Instead of being made of marble, this wall seemed to be made of stone bricks carefully placed and sealed, as if it had been a wall recently made to cover something up. Link looked up at the ceiling again, noticing a pattern with the vines. They were spreading from various cracks at the top of that stone wall. Curiosity brought him to wonder what lied beyond, though his rational thinking told him he would probably rather not know.

He stepped to one of the doors on the left and then, remembering that it was well lit in this room, doused his lantern and put it back in his pack. He carefully opened up the door, cringing as it gave a loud creak, signifying to him that it was made of wood. It opened up into a rather large room with many desks. The desks were all covered with papers that were covered with illegible writings and drawings. The room was enormous as well, perhaps large enough for a group of students or monks that studied here. There was nothing more of interest in the room, however, save for one parchment on one of the far desks that was still legible, or appeared to be. Link approached it, making his way through the desks, careful of touching them for fear that they might collapse from being so time worn and having no upkeep.

He approached the parchment and looked at it, realizing that it was a map of the temple that he was in. He picked it up and looked at the side, looking for "B1", which as far as to his understanding, was where he was at. The map portrayed a large room in the middle with the hexagonal pattern in front of a dark circle, with an offshoot room to the left, a hallway that went eastward and then turned north into a rather large room that was scrawled on, though the language was not something that he recognized. The room directly north had a detail of a stair going down and then the next page, B2, showed in detail that there was one large door in front of a truly massive room with five doors, though he could see that only one of them was actually drawn in. He took special note of it, it was the one on the north-eastern side and it had the symbol of a fire drawn over it.

The door was suddenly kicked down, startling Link as he leaped back away from the desk, still holding the map. A skeleton walked in, wielding a blade that glowed red and also wielding a shield. It's skull turned to him, the eye sockets glowing red. "Hello, hero. I was told that you would be coming here for the flame that is the key to destroying this forest. I cannot allow that." It stepped into the room and began approaching him, raising it's shield and holding its sword at a ready position as it approached.

Link dropped the map and then pulled out his sword and shield, his heart racing this time. The unusual calm that had swept over him before wasn't there but he still felt confident in his abilities. The skeleton leaped over one of the desks and swung its sword in a wide arc, telegraphing its swing path rather easily. Link raised his shield and grunted as he felt the blade collide with his shield. He pushed out with his shield, swinging his sword in virtually the same fluid motion. He swung it in a wide arc and packed as much power into the swing as he could muster. It hit the bone, jerking to a stop, though he did hear a sickening crack. The skeleton was actually knocking down onto the desk, the old wood yielding under the sudden force and weight, crashing to the ground with the loud, echoing sound of splintered wood as it all collapsed.

Link followed suit as the skeleton attempted to recover from being knocked into the wood. He lifted his foot and brought it down on the skull and threw his entire body weight onto it. He felt the skull yield as bone scattered and splintered from his foot falling into contact with it. The skeleton did not move any further. Link sat there, his boot still on top of crushed bone. He lifted his foot finally and looked for the map again. He found it again, underneath the skeleton's sword. He retrieved it and quickly left the room, fearing that another skeleton was going to come into the room and try to kill him.

"You're doing quite well for an amateur. Perhaps you aren't as bad off as I thought you might have been," the voice spoke suddenly, startling Link again. He ignored the man as he continued to go on about how weak Link was. He was about to head north into the main room when the thought occurred to him that the door might well have been locked. He turned to the second eastern door again and followed the hallway down. He stopped right at the turn in the hallway. The vines that had been growing across the ceiling were now growing down across the walls and were soon in front of the door, growing into the room around it. He had a strong sense that going into this room would not be a good idea.

However, he felt that there would be something important beyond the door. He began walking forward, the ominous feeling growing as he continued approaching the door. He stepped on one of the vines and then pulled back as he felt the vine trying to wrap around his foot the moment it came into contact with the vines. He pulled out his lantern and lit it again, looking down at it, when he noticed that the vines on the floor crept away from him when he held his lantern up. He wondered about why the vines retracted from the light on the floor, yet none of the other vines had moved a single bit. He approached the door and tried the handle, finding that it moved easily and the door swung open, this one being absolutely quiet, not a single creak coming out of it whatsoever.

The room beyond the door was hideous. Black vines spread all across the room, crawling down from the ceiling across the walls and spreading out across the floor. Link stared inside the room for a moment, the light of his lantern revealing that there were details underneath the vines, but they were covered up and only barely distinguishable form between gaps between the black, thorn covered strands. Link looked at the ceiling, noticing that there was a hole that they were slithering in from. Link now followed the vines down to where he was standing and that's when he noticed that the vines were receding from around him in a circle around him. The light from his lantern seemed to be doing the trick. He just hoped that he would not run out of the lantern oil at a crucial moment, if his theory was correct.

Taking another look at the room, without paying as much attention to the vines, he could see several posts where torches would be lit from. An idea came to mind as he walked into the room and started to use his lantern to light the torches. The first torch that lit up, a large amount of the vines slithered back away from the newly lit torch, a hissing sound emanating from them. As Link lit the torches, the hissing became louder until all of the torches were lit. They suddenly brightened and the room became intensely bright, a loud shriek coming from the hole as the vines all rapidly receded into the hole that was now directly above him. Link looked up into the hole, noticing that no matter how bright the room was, none of the light stretched too far into the hole…it was almost as if there were a shadow veil blocking all viewing access. Perhaps that was where the source of the vines hid itself from further harm.

Link now looked down at the design, noticing it to be a sun with the symbol of Hyrule resting right beneath it. The sun itself was actually glowing in the light, as if created to magically emit light. As Link stood on it, the sun continued to glow with a bright light, with it glowing stronger and stronger until it didn't seem to be getting any stronger in its radiance. He stepped off the sun, worried for a moment that all of the lights were going to go out. Much to his pleasant surprise, nothing happened to the sun, it stayed at the same radiance that it had been at.

Then the voice rang out again, echoing nice and loud, "Well, you managed to light this place up again. What's the matter? Scared of the dark?" But Link could hear that there was some fear in that voice, as if the man knew that Link was getting closer, step by step, to surviving this hell hole. Link doused his lantern, not seeing another use for it now. He walked out of the now brightly lit hallway and found that all of the areas of the castle were now brightly colored, the vines on the ceiling having receded as well, though there were still hints of them near the wall that was different from all the rest of the walls. Again, Link's curiosity piqued as he looked at the wall. He began to truly wonder what was inside and why it was hiding from the light, yet when there was no hint of that light, it crawled out to dominate whatever it could find. In particular, why did it originate from both that hole in the ceiling as well as from behind this wall?

He decided it would still be best not to question these things as he turned to the north. It was there that he was hopefully going to find a key that would allow him to move forward. Link studied the map of that room, memorizing what room it would be in comparison to the door into this large room. He had a feeling he was going to have to make a split second decision as to which room to get to and he was not going to have time to memorize the map.

He walked through the northern door and was greeted by an extremely bright light that his eyes slowly adjusted to, showing that the room was pure white, unnaturally so, and gleaming nice and bright. He stepped inside when the voice rang out, "Normally there would have been quite a bit to worry about in here, though I must have forgotten that you are being watched and protected by the goddess. That's the only reason that the sun symbol even activated, boy, was that you are specially chosen…bah, if the goddesses have to coddle you, then what use are you to them?" said the voice, followed by mad laughter before it faded into nothingness.

Link listened to the voice again before looking down at his hand. Was that the truth? Was he being coddled by the goddesses as he had said? He shook his head, knowing that the doubts that remained in his mind had to go. This was not the way of a hero! The hero was fearless, never backing down in the face of danger or panicking. That was the way the legends were always told about the legendary heroes. He was supposed to become just like them, looking at danger without fear. Yet, he was nowhere even close to becoming like the hero.

As his eyes finally adjusted to the bright light, he saw the room in its entirety, It was a large, circular room with pillars rising up to a ceiling far higher than what had been present, perhaps even reaching as high as the temple was tall. However, Link saw a figure standing in the middle of the room that he did not fully recognize. It was a burning shade of green, facing away from him. Link started walking forward, drawing his sword out of some fear at this point. He finally reached the figure, who turned around and looked right at him. Link stopped dead in his tracks. The figure was that of the legendary hero, a scar visible across his throat.

**I have to get this chapter in so that I have SOMETHING still going with this story. Still, I apologize for the long wait. This was a LONG chapter. DX**


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